Licensed supply, credential mix, wages and demand outlook for well drillers in Orange County, CA, updated nightly from the state register and BLS.
Orange County, CA carries 29 licensed well drillers and a median wage of $48,790/yr ($23.46/hr).
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This county sits at the 45th percentile nationally for well drillers pay, below the median US county. Average weekly wages across the county's construction trades rose 14.3% year over year (BLS QCEW).
Counties within 150 miles whose published median for this occupation is higher than Orange County's. Medians from the same BLS OEWS series shown above, not offers, and pay is only one reason to move.
| County | Median | Difference | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | $71,280 | +$22,490 | 91 mi |
| Kern County, CA | $52,640 | +$3,850 | 128 mi |
| San Diego County, CA | $48,880 | +$90 | 73 mi |
| Riverside County, CA | $48,880 | +$90 | 102 mi |
| San Bernardino County, CA | $48,880 | +$90 | 122 mi |
Active, licensed firms and master-tier individuals on the CA register.
| Name | Tier |
|---|---|
| A & M Contracting | Contractor |
| Astech Environmental Services Inc | Contractor |
| Bc2 Environmental LLC DBA Bc2 Environmental Well Drilling | Contractor |
| Bruce Kevin Peter | Contractor |
| Continental Property Services Inc | Contractor |
| Environmental Consulting And Construction Corporation | Contractor |
| Environmental Support Technologies | Contractor |
| Geoboden Inc | Contractor |
| Good Earthkeeping Organization Inc | Contractor |
| Hamilton Drilling Corporation | Contractor |
Orange County holds 43% of the metro area's 67 licensed well drillers (the second-largest well drillers pool among its 2 counties), at 0.1 per 10,000 residents against 0.1 metro-wide; the largest pool is Los Angeles County with 38.
Counted from ATI's nightly diff of the CA register itself, over the trailing year. Runs that failed a data-quality gate are excluded, so a scraper outage is never reported as workers leaving.
| Movement | Workers | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| New licences issued | 0 | People who entered the licensed workforce here. |
| Licences lapsed | 1 | Expired or not renewed. Retirement, relocation or leaving the trade. |
| Moved up a credential tier | 0 | Apprentice to journeyman, journeyman to master, and so on. |
| Net change | -1 | New licences minus lapsed. Negative means the licensed base shrank. |
Employment from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for the industry this trade sits in; payroll from the Census County Business Patterns. Establishment counts are QCEW where the county is disclosed and an ATI estimate otherwise.
| Measure | Value | What it counts |
|---|---|---|
| Employer establishments | 53 | Physical business locations in this industry. |
| Industry employment | 1,306 | Everyone on those payrolls, not only licensed trades. |
| Annual industry payroll | $124M | Total wages paid across those establishments (Census CBP, 2023). |
County-wide construction activity, across all trades rather than well drillers specifically. Each figure names its source and the period it covers.
| Measure | Value | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| New housing units permitted | 4,992 | Last full year, county-wide. 16 per 10,000 residents. Permits lead construction hiring by months, so this is the earliest honest signal of work arriving (Census Building Permits Survey). |
| Construction employment | 70,402 | Everyone working in construction in this county, all trades and office staff. Average pay $1,719 per week. BLS QCEW. |
| Median year homes were built | 1977 | Older stock means more repair, replacement and retrofit work, which is steadier than new build and does not stop in a downturn (Census ACS). |
| Net migration | -20,525 | People who moved in minus people who moved out, from IRS address changes. Arrivals need housing, wiring, plumbing and heat. |
0.1 licensed well drillers per 10,000 residents. A thin pipeline against an ageing licensed base is how a shortage forms years before it shows up in wages.
License register: 2026-09-17; Wages: 2025-05-31; Demand: 2026-09-17; Apprenticeship: 2025-12-31.
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